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I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.

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Friday, October 12, 2012

I’ve still never visited the Baked bakery, but I’ve had a lot of fun baking from the owners’ books. Now, there’s a brand new one. Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients highlights Matt and Renato’s ten favorite ingredients with a chapter of recipes for each one, and I received a review copy of the book. Those top ten ingredients are: Peanut Butter, Lemon and Lime, Caramel, Booze, Pumpkin, Malted Milk Powder, Cinnamon, Cheese, Chocolate, and Banana. They chose well. And, they’ve used those ingredients in tarts, cakes, cookies, muffins, milkshakes, pies, bars, buns, and breads. Everything in the book fits the Baked style of classic American treats made from scratch, and in some cases, given a new twist. I was sure the Caramel chapter would be my favorite with Caramel Coconut Cluster Bars and the Easy Candy Bar Tart, but then I got distracted by the Pumpkin chapter with the Pumpkin Almond Cake and Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. Then, there are Banana Mousse Parfaits and Honey Banana Poppy Seed Bread in the last chapter. I may need to throw a dessert party sometime soon. To jump in and start baking, I chose the Malted Madeleines from the Malted Milk Powder chapter. I wasn’t hosting a dessert party that day, and madeleines make a nice, small-sized treat. When cake sounds delicious, but you really just want something the size of a cookie, a madeleine is the way to go. Malted milk powder is also one of my favorite ingredients, but I don’t get enough opportunities to bake with it. The authors point out that the flavor is subtle and you might not notice it right away, but you’d miss the malt flavor if it wasn’t there.

Luckily, I took a moment to read the recipe all the way through the day before I was going to bake these. The batter needs to rest for one hour after it’s mixed, so I knew to plan for that. Flour, malted milk powder, cocoa powder, and baking powder were sifted together and set aside. Then, in a stand mixer, eggs, sugar, and salt were whisked until frothy. The dry ingredients were then sifted onto the frothy egg mixture and folded in. The bowl was covered with a towel and left to sit for one hour. The oven was pre-heated, and the batter was given a quick stir before spooning it into the prepared madeleine pans. I’m never sure what three-quarters full should look like in madeleine cups and mine were probably over that level, but it worked out fine. They baked for about twelve minutes and were left to cool. Some additional cocoa powder and malted milk powder were stirred together and then sifted over the madeleines after removing them from the pans.

I have a feeling that from now on, I’ll be using a lot more malted milk powder. In any recipe that involves cocoa powder, you can add two or three tablespoons of malted milk powder and reduce the cocoa powder by the same amount. You’ll get a slightly softer edge to the cocoa flavor and faint maltiness, and with more malted milk powder sifted on top, your nose will get a hint of what’s to come from the malt aroma. I can’t wait to find out what tips I’ll learn about using all the other favorite ingredients in the book.

Yea! So glad to read your tips about malted milk powder. I just bought a big container for the malted milk ball cake I made and was wondering what the heck I was going to do with the rest of it. Also, I can't believe I have never made madeleines at home. I blame it on not having the pans but that's hardly a good excuse. These look and sound terrific. Good job on achieving that perfect little bump!

I have been on the fence about this new cookbook but after reading your review and recipe testing I feel it is my inner bakers duty to place an order soon. Otherwise I might miss out onthe marvelous pumpkin section this fall!

I just made the banana bread with peanut butter - so good!! I've only made madeleines once and they came out terribly so I've been scared off. I think I need a better pan. My mom used to make malteds for us when I was a kid so I love anything with that flavor.